Image:ShostakovichRadio1941.ogg

Broadcast made by the Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich from the besieged city of Leningrad in 1941. The work he refers to here is Symphony No. 7 in C Major, opus 60, subtitled Leningrad.

[edit] English translation

An hour ago, I finished the score of two parts of a large symphonic composition. If I succeed in writing this composition well, if I succeed in completing the third and fourth parts, then it will be possible to call this composition the seventh symphony.

Why do I announce this? So that the radio listeners who are listening to me now will know that the life of our city goes on as normal.

We are all now doing our military duty. Soviet musicians, my dear friends and numerous brothers-in-arms, my friends! Remember that our art is now in great danger. Let us defend our music, let us work honestly and selflessly!

[edit] Traducción al español

Hace una hora, he terminado la partitura de dos partes de una composición sinfónica de gran tamaño. De tener éxito en escribir bien esta composición, de tener éxito en completar las partes tercera y cuarta, entonces se hará posible llamar a esta composición la sinfonía sétima.

¿Por qué les anuncio esto? Para que los radioescuchas que me están escuchando ahora sepan que la vida en nuestra ciudad prosigue como de costumbre.

Todos estamos ahora haciendo nuestro deber militar. ¡Músicos soviéticos, queridos amigos y numerosos hermanos de armas míos, mis amigos! Recuerden que nuestro arte está en gran peligro ahora. ¡Defendamos nuestra música, trabajemos honesta y desinteresadamente!

This work was in the public domain in Russia according to Law No. 5351-I of Russia of July 9, 1993 (with revisions) on Copyrights and Neighbouring Rights. But the current status of this work is unknown because of the entering in force of Book IV of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation on January 1, 2008. If it's possible, replace this license tag by {{PD-old}}, {{PD-Russia-2008}} or {{PD-RusEmpire}}.

• Dmitri Shostakovich